Listenin' to Jazz and Conversation

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Lonson, Sep 1, 2016.

  1. David Ellis

    David Ellis Forum Resident

    Location:
    Cheshire, UK
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    Another new one in the CD player. Just gorgeous.
     
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  2. SWMBO is never wrong... sometimes.
    'Fall' was my entry point to Miles. Still prefer it to anything on KoB.
     
    David Ellis likes this.
  3. rxcory

    rxcory proud jazz band/marching band parent

    Location:
    Portland, Oregon
    Are you sure you're not confusing me with someone else? I'm a physical media lover and relish the hunt for the best-sounding stuff I can find, but I'll be the first to admit that sometimes really great stuff practically falls out of the sky, or appears "from the air." Case in point, I can't find a digital version of Four For Trane that beats the sound quality of a "from the air" MP3 that found its way into my collection.

    WP: Ike Quebec - Soul Samba (APO SACD). Perfect music for unwinding after another night shift. Paired with a cold San Pellegrino. Good night :wave:
     
  4. David Ellis

    David Ellis Forum Resident

    Location:
    Cheshire, UK
    for
    Okay, I'll bite; what's a french press? I have all the stuff for brewing (no machines) and several coffees but don't know what that meanso_O
     
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  5. scompton

    scompton Forum Resident

    Location:
    Arlington, VA
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  6. Lonson

    Lonson I'm in the kitchen with the Tombstone Blues Thread Starter

    A way to make coffee.
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    Personally I use a Melita device to drip coffee one cup at a time, grinding beans; for about a dozen years plus it has been organic Mexican for me.
     
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  7. Jacline

    Jacline Forum Resident

    Location:
    Real, Real Gone
    I guess I misunderstood that part of your earlier post, then, rx. Something got lost in translation. Sorry.
     
  8. David Ellis

    David Ellis Forum Resident

    Location:
    Cheshire, UK
    Ah, a cafetierre. Sorry, never heard them called a french press before. Yes I have at least 3 of those, 1 to 4 cups depending. I quite recently found double skinned ones which are even better and, being metal, last forever. I like to grind and brew mine fresh. And then there's the stove top espresso maker.
    And Lonson, your picture smells wonderful. I think I'll just go and brew some.
     
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  9. Lonson

    Lonson I'm in the kitchen with the Tombstone Blues Thread Starter

    From the fantastic Hancock box set. Mastering in this set is superb.

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    btf1980, jay.dee, Six String and 8 others like this.
  10. Steel City

    Steel City Forum Resident

    Location:
    Sheffield UK
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    As some of you may know, this album 'the scene changes The Amazing Bud Powell' is primarily piano based first released on Blue Note Records in 1959. I have a 2014 Music Matters reissue however after many plays over the years and some changes to the set up I still find the recording of the piano particularly thin, almost scratchy! and ill defined within the soundstage.

    However, having seen these reviews

    "The RVG piano sound is a classic case of "love it or hate it." I read somewhere that Bill Evans refused to record with RVG because he hated it."

    "But there is one peculiarity to Van Gelder's recordings of the '50s and '60s that is almost universal: the piano. For whatever the reason, that piano—with only a few passable exceptions—sounds like it was recorded underwater, or under a blanket in a closet, on virtually every recording he engineered. It's not hard to imagine, if given the opportunity to set up a session to record a leading pianist like Herbie Hancock (or Duke Ellington, or Horace Silver, or McCoy Tyner), that the studio piano would sound its best. This apparently did not dawn on Van Gelder until many years later. His pianos always sound small, dulled and indistinct".


    I would be very interested in what the 'jazz heads' on here who own any copy of this album CD or LP think.
     
  11. GregM

    GregM The expanding man

    Location:
    Bay Area, CA
    Many of Bud's recordings have lots of warts, in the playing as well as the source material, and that's part of the appeal for me. I don't have a problem with how RVG mic'ed the piano. It is close-mic'ed and a lot better than the Atlantic Tom Dowd-engineered sessions supervised by Nesuhi Ertegün, although Bernie Grundman has done wonders with those reissues. I think it's a matter of the source material condition.
     
  12. Lonson

    Lonson I'm in the kitchen with the Tombstone Blues Thread Starter

    For myself:
    I'll quickly say this: I'll acknowledge that there are many issues with Rudy Van Gelder recordings, and re-masterings, but I've never been one of the "bad piano sound" campers.

    Throughout his work for a number of labels and genres of music I've found lots to enjoy in his piano sounds, and I find many of the trio albums to be dishing out some great recorded piano sounds. I'm going to revisit this one and re-experience it and let you know but . . . I remember it sounding fine as far as recorded piano sound.
     
  13. Morbius

    Morbius Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brookline, MA
    This one's dedicated to you Jacline. Best wishes on your Miles Davis discoveries.

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  14. Lonson

    Lonson I'm in the kitchen with the Tombstone Blues Thread Starter

    Wow, as this release progresses the sound engineering improves and it becomes almost a system-demo disc, the energy and cohesion of these performances are captured and played back. . . .
     
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  15. Bobby Buckshot

    Bobby Buckshot Heavy on the grease please

    Location:
    Southeastern US
    I'm not a big fan of RVG's piano sounds. YMMV, of course and we all make due with what we can get. I've got that particular Bud Powell on CD (RVG Edition), as well as a couple of others and while the sound of the piano is not perfect, I really love Bud's playing so it doesn't bother me. Bud, to me, just launches into another stratosphere beyond where poor recording can keep him down.

    Now, on other Blue Note RVG recording CDs I have, say Walter Davis' Davis Cup - for whatever reason, as great as the songs are, I really struggle with the piano on this one and as a consequence I don't listen to it often (BN Connoisseur). This would be where I'd like to get a better mastering like an XRCD or something to improve the experience.

    For an alternative piano sound I did like, someone a while back in this thread (Chervokas, I think) posted a link to a song from Bobby Kapp and Matthew Shipp's Cactus release on bandcamp. It was great stuff, but of course is a modern recording so isn't exactly apples to apples.

    Edit - wanted to add, what I like about the Shipp recording is that it captures the resonance of the piano rather than just the sound. I see the piano, guitar and vibes as the same family of sounds because of that resonance and RVG's piano recordings don't capture that for the most part. The sound can go so far, and a player like Bud can take that to its highest heights as heard on these RVG Blue Notes.
     
    Last edited: Apr 19, 2017
  16. Lonson

    Lonson I'm in the kitchen with the Tombstone Blues Thread Starter

    I'm doing a listen to this session right now. I just listened to the first two tracks from the SHM-CD in the 75h anniversary series, and the same two from the Platinum SHM-CD mono version of the album.

    The Platinum SHM-CD
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    Most listeners would immediately and readily agree I suspect that the mono mix has a fuller piano sound than the stereo version. On my system the stereo versions seem to have the piano reeling from Bud Powell's attack with a bright and very left-located sound. The notes ring, but the sound doesn't seem to flow into the middle and yes, that's a thin sound. Overall though what I hear is the Bud Powell Trio sound. The balance of piano, bass and drums, Taylor's sassy beats matching Bud's procession of notes, Chambers stepping lightly along and doing some very apt melodic support. The sound that Bud took across the ocean. So I think, especially in the mono mix, Van Gelder captured the spirit of the session and the unique blend that Bud either directs, concocts or rides along with on the trio performances of this time period.
     
  17. Lonson

    Lonson I'm in the kitchen with the Tombstone Blues Thread Starter

    Bobby, I'll have to listen to Davis Cup a bit more soon. The SHM-CD in the 75th anniversary series I remember sounding better than the RVG in many ways. Remember this is but the second album or so recorded at RVG's Englewood Cliffs, NJ studio, and this was a time (true a few months later for the Powell album) when stereo was a new thing and recordings were monitored in mono. I've let the mono mix version of The Scene Changes continue to spin and I wouldn't call the piano sound thin, I'd say it was "ringing" and forceful sounding.
     
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  18. Bobby Buckshot

    Bobby Buckshot Heavy on the grease please

    Location:
    Southeastern US
    Oh, I definitely don't fault RVG at all. He did what he did and made the most of it - recording some of the greatest music ever laid down IMO. I was just looking at discogs and saw Davis Cup also was released on SACD which I didn't know. Would be worth tracking down. I'll bet that SHM-CD is worthy as well.

    FTR, this Bud Powell is my favorite of the 3 trio sets I have from him (Bud! and Time Waits being the others). And I wouldn't hesitate to get the others, even if the option was a regular CD no matter the mastering. The music is just too damn good.
     
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  19. Walter Sobchak

    Walter Sobchak Forum Resident

    I've never thought that about McCoy Tyner's piano on the Coltrane sets that RVG recorded
     
  20. dzhason

    dzhason Forum Resident

    Location:
    PA
    Now Playing: Wayne Shorter - Adam's Apple (Music Matters 45)

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  21. dzhason

    dzhason Forum Resident

    Location:
    PA
    I've been wanting to get the Speakers Corner reissue of this, I have yet to pick anything up from them.
     
    Lonson likes this.
  22. Phillip Walch

    Phillip Walch Forum Resident

    Spending a lot of time this week listening to new Duke Ellington, been busy with other music and life how dare it, I don't think Jazz and conversation ever deserves to be subjected to Wu Tang Clan....
     
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  23. dzhason

    dzhason Forum Resident

    Location:
    PA
    Wait, how did you get my list of all-time favorite albums? (Well almost my list, it's missing Miles in the Sky)
     
    Crispy Rob likes this.
  24. Lonson

    Lonson I'm in the kitchen with the Tombstone Blues Thread Starter

    OMG. The sound of the Powell disc sucked me in and I decided to spin another of the Platinum SHM-CDs. Great sound.

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  25. dzhason

    dzhason Forum Resident

    Location:
    PA
    I like the Wu Tang Clan and posted a few weeks ago about how they sampled the opening piano lick from Monk's cover of Ellington's Black and Tan Fantasy for a track on their first album.
     
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